ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1526
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1526
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10 Apr 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Frithuric Mangod Chrypffs> is a name appropriate for a
German man living between 1000 and 1500.  Here is what we have found.

The three elements of your name are basically correct, but we have some
suggestions about spelling and about the way you've combined them.

<Frithuric> is apparently a spelling of the name that was usually
<Friderich> in medieval German.  We do not think that this spelling is
likely in German.  We found <th> used for <d> in versions of the name from
England and the Low Countries, e.g. <Frethericus> in 13th century Dutch,
but we didn't find any period example of <u> in place of <e> in the second
syllable.  The overwhelmingly most common German spelling of the name was
<Friderich>, though we have also found <Frederich> 1348, 1412.  The name
was common and produced many pet forms, including <Fritsche> 1323 and
<Vritischi> 1303, both typical of the southern parts of the German-speaking
region [1, 2, 3, 7, 8].  The <V> is pronounced just the same as the <F>.

<Mangod> is an uncommon Germanic name which we found recorded in 8th to
11th century France as <Mangodus>, <Mangaudus>, and <Manegaudus> [2].  Such
early records were almost universally written in Latin, and names were
adapted to Latin by the addition of the grammatical ending <-us>.  If you
drop that ending, the remainder is likely to be the form used in the
vernacular.  We didn't find examples of <Mangod> in Germany, though we did
find the very similar <Mengotus> or <Mengo{sz}> in the 13th and early 14th
centuries, <Mengoiz> in the late 14th [1, 4].  Another similar-sounding
German name is <Mangold> 1448, <Manegolt> 13th and 14th centuries,
<Manegoldus> 1301 [5, 6].

<Chrypffs> is a Upper (southern) German spelling of <Krebs>, a surname
derived from a word meaning "crab".  It was originally used in various
ways: for a crab-fisher, as a descriptive nickname, or as a house-name.  An
example of the last category is <Erhard zuo dem Krebis> 1371 "Erhard at the
Crab".  Erhard lived or worked at a house known as "The Crab", probably
for its decoration.  Other examples include the Latin <Eberh[ardus] Cancer>
1197 and <Heinr[icus] cognomento Cancer> 1242 [1].

Double given names or middle names are rare in our period.  We've found
very occasional examples in Germany as early as the 13th century, but they
didn't become at all common until the 15th century [5].  If you want a name
from an earlier period, then we recommend you choose one of the two given
names and call yourself something like <Friderich Chrypffs>.  If you want a
15th or 16th century name, then <Friderich Mengo{sz} Chrypffs> would be a
reasonable choice.  Note that either name places you in the south --
Switzerland, Bavaria, or Austria -- because the spelling <Chrypffs> is
typical of those areas.  Note that the spelling <Fritheric> of your given
name is only plausible for the northwestern parts of the German world, so a
combination of the two is not plausible.  If you choose either of the names
we've suggested, then <Vritschi Chrypffs> would be an interesting familiar
form of your name.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Alan
Fairfax, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  10 Apr 1999


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References

[1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen
Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn.
Friderich, Fritschi, Mengo{sz}, Krebs.

[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972), I:93b, I.167a.

[3] Forssner, Thorvald, _Continental-Germanic Personal Names in England in
Old and Middle English Times_ (Uppsala: K.W. Appelbergs Boktryckeri, 1916),
s.n. Frederic.

[4] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum
Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt
& Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the
Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974), pp.32-6.

[5] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen
Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903;
Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.27 and ch.4.

[6] Bahlow, Hans, _Dictionary of German Names_, tr. Edda Gentry
(German-American Cultural Society, 1994 ISBN: 0924119357), s.n. Mangold.

[7] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: SCA,
Inc., 1998).
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/bahlow_v.htm

[8] Tavernier-Vereecken, C., _Gentse Naamkunde van ca. 1000 tot 1253: een
bijdrage tot de kennis van het oudste middelnederlands_ (Belguim: 1968),
p.82.